Drum washing machine

ABSTRACT

A drum washing machine which includes a detergent supply device which is easily produced and has low production costs, and which allows a user to observe a supply state of a detergent. The drum washing machine includes a main body having an opening, a door having a transparent member to open and close the opening of the main body, the transparent member allowing a user to see the inside of the main body, and a detergent receiving portion formed in the transparent member of the door.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2005-0068438, filed Jul. 27, 2005, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a drum washing machine. Moreparticularly, to a drum washing machine which includes a detergentsupply device and allows a user to observe the supplying state of adetergent.

2. Description of the Related Art

Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-9847, published Feb. 5,2003, discloses a drum washing machine having a detergent supply device,in which a detergent is dissolved in washing water during the supply ofthe washing water and the washing water containing the detergentdissolved therein is supplied to the drum washing machine.

The above detergent supply device of the drum washing machine includes adetergent container having a detergent receiving portion, and adetergent container housing installed in an upper portion of a side partof a main body. Water supply tubes for supplying washing water to thedetergent container housing and a connection tube for guiding thewashing water having passed through the detergent container housing to atub are connected to the detergent container housing.

The above conventional drum washing machine causes the supplied washingwater to pass through the detergent supply device and then to besupplied to the tub, thereby allowing a detergent introduced into thedetergent supply device to be dissolved in the supplied water and thenthe water containing the detergent dissolved therein to be supplied tothe tub.

However, since the detergent supply device has a complicated structureand requires many components, it is difficult to produce the drumwashing machine and the production costs are high. Further, a usercannot see the state of the detergent, which is dissolved in the waterand is then supplied to the tub.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a drumwashing machine which includes a detergent supply device, and which iseasily produced and having low production costs.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparentfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

These and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved byproviding a drum washing machine which allows a user to observe a supplystate of a detergent, thereby supplying the user with visualsatisfaction.

It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a drum washingmachine including a main body having an opening, a door having atransparent member to open and close the opening of the main body, thetransparent member allowing a user to see an inside of the main body,and a detergent receiving portion formed in the transparent member.

The detergent receiving portion is formed integrally with transparentmember.

The drum washing machine further includes a tub installed in the mainbody to contain washing water therein, a rotary drum installed in thetub to wash laundry therein, and a water supply device to supply washingwater to the detergent receiving portion, wherein the detergentreceiving portion includes an outlet to guide the received washing waterto an inside of the rotary drum.

An upper surface of the detergent receiving portion is opened.

It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a stream delayprotrusion to delay a flow of the washing water to the outlet installedin the detergent receiving portion.

A filtration sieve is installed at the outlet of the detergent receivingportion.

The filtration sieve is detachably installed.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a drum washingmachine including a detergent receiving portion formed in an innersurface of a door for opening and closing an opening of a main body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional view of a drum washing machine accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a detergent receiving portionof the drum washing machine in accordance with a first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of the detergent receiving portion of thedrum washing machine shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a detergent receiving portionof the drum washing machine in accordance with a second embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an exploded perspective view of the detergentreceiving portion of the drum washing machine shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the presentinvention by referring to the figures.

A drum washing machine in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a tub 11 having a cylindricalstructure and installed in a main body 10 to contain washing water, anda rotary drum 12 rotatably installed in the tub 11.

An opening 13 to place laundry into the rotary drum 12 is formed througha front surface of the main body 10, and a door 30 to open and close theopening 13 is installed on the main body 10. A water supply devicecomprising a water supply tube 14 a and a water supply control valve 14b to supply washing water to an inside of the tub 11 is installed abovethe tub 11, and a drainage device comprising a drainage tube 15 a andthe drainage pump 15 b to discharge the water in the tub 11 to anoutside is installed below the tub 11.

The rotary drum 12 comprises an opening 12 a formed through a frontsurface thereof, through holes 12 b formed through the circumferentialsurface thereof, and a plurality of lifters 12 a installed on the innersurface thereof to lift and drop laundry when the rotary drum 12 isrotated. The rotary drum 12 is supported by a rotary shaft 16 connectedwith a central portion of a rear surface thereof, and the rotary shaft16 passes through the rear surface of the tub 11, is extended backwards,and is rotatably supported by bearings 17 installed on the rear surfaceof the tub 11.

A driving motor 20 to rotate the rotary shaft 16 is installed on therear surface of the tub 11. The driving motor 20 comprises a stator 21fixed to the rear surface of the tub 11, a rotor 22 rotatably disposedoutside the stator 21, and a support plate 23, the outer cylindricalsurface of which is connected with the rotor 22, and the center of whichis connected to the rotary shaft 16, so that the rotor 22 is rotatablysupported by the support plate 23. The driving motor 20 rotates therotary drum 12 at a low speed in a regular or reverse direction so thatthe washing of laundry is performed, and rotates the rotary drum 12 at ahigh speed so that a dehydration of the laundry is performed.

An opening 11 a is formed through the front surface of the tub 11 at aposition corresponding to a position of the opening 13 of the main body10. A connection member 18 in a bellows shape having high elasticity isinterposed between the opening 11 a of the tub 11 and the opening 13 ofthe main body 10. The connection member 18 prevents washing water frombeing leaked through a gap between the opening 11 a of the tub 11 andthe opening 13 of the main body 10. Further, the connection member 18 iselastically extendible and contractible, thus preventing shake orvibration of the tub 11, generated during the washing operation, frombeing transmitted to the main body 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the door 30 for opening and closing theopening 13 of the main body 10 comprises a ring-shaped door frame 31rotatably installed on the front surface of the main body 10, and anouter transparent member 32 and an inner transparent member 33, whichare connected with the door frame 31. The outer transparent member 32and the inner transparent member 33 are made of a transparent materialso that a user located at an outside of the main body 10 can observe theinside of the rotary drum 12 during a washing operation of the drumwashing machine.

The inner transparent member 33 is protruded in a dome shape from thedoor frame 31 towards the opening 12 a of the rotary drum 12. An outletof the water supply tube 14 a is connected with an upper portion of theconnection member 18 such that the outlet is located above the innertransparent member 33. The above connection allows the supplied washingwater to be guided to the inside of the rotary drum 12 through the innertransparent member 33, and allows foam or foreign substances attached tothe inner transparent member 33 during the washing operation to bewashed away by the supplied water so that the inner transparent member33 maintains its transparent state. The inner transparent member 33protrudes towards the opening 12 a of the rotary drum 12, therebypreventing the laundry agitated in the rotary drum 12 from beingdischarged from the inside of the rotary drum 12.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a detergent receiving portion 40 having adesignated depth, an upper surface thereof is opened, is formed in theupper surface of the inner transparent member 33. When the washing ofthe laundry is performed, a user opens the door 30 and pours a detergentinto the detergent receiving portion 40, and the poured detergent isdissolved in the supplied water and is then supplied to the inside ofthe tub 11. Accordingly, the drum washing machine of the presentinvention does not require the conventional detergent supply device,thus having a simple configuration. Further, since the door 30 is openedand the detergent is poured only into the detergent receiving portion 40when the detergent is supplied to the drum washing machine, the drumwashing machine of the present invention allows the detergent to beeasily supplied thereto. Moreover, since the detergent receiving portion40 and the inner transparent member 33 are transparent, the user canobserve the supply state of the detergent during the washing operation.

For this reason, the inner transparent member 33 is produced byinjection-molding an acrylic resin, such as Poly Methyl Meta Acrylate(PMMA). When the inner transparent member 33 is produced, the detergentreceiving portion 40 is produced integrally with the inner transparentmember 33. PMMA has excellent transparency and high heat resistance andis easily produced by injection molding, thus being suitable to mold theinner transparent member 33 having the detergent receiving portion 40.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the detergent receiving portion 40 comprisesan outlet 41 located adjacent to the opening 12 a of the rotary drum 12so that the washing water supplied to the detergent receiving portion 40is discharged to the inside of the rotary drum 12. As shown in FIG. 1,the outlet 41 guides the detergent dissolved in the washing water todrop onto the laundry contained in the rotary drum 12 so that thelaundry is soaked in the washing water containing the detergent duringthe supply of the water, thereby improving the laundry washing effect ofthe drum washing machine.

A stream delay protrusion 42 having a designated width to delay the flowof the washing water towards the outlet 41 is protruded upwardly fromthe bottom of the detergent receiving portion 40 at a position adjacentto the outlet 41.

As shown in FIG. 3, the stream delay protrusion 42 comprises a width(W2) larger than the width (W1) of the outlet 41 so that the washingwater supplied to the detergent reception potion 40 goes around thestream delay protrusion 42 and flows towards the outlet 41. The streamdelay protrusion 42 delays the discharge of the washing water suppliedto the detergent receiving portion 40, thereby increasing the solubilityof the detergent in the washing water. When a user opens the door 30 andpours the detergent into the detergent receiving portion 40, as shown inFIG. 3, the stream delay protrusion 42 allows the detergent to be pouredinto the inner portion of the stream delay protrusion 42, therebypreventing the powdered detergent from flowing towards the outlet 41.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a detergent receiving portion of the drumwashing machine in accordance with a second embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown, a filtration sieve 50 is detachably installed atthe outlet 41 of the detergent receiving portion 40. In FIG. 5, thefiltration sieve 50 comprises a semicircular shape surrounding the innersurface of the outlet 41, and connection rails 51 respectively installedat ends so that the filtration sieve 50 is installed on an inner surfaceof the detergent receiving portion 40. Connection grooves 52, into whichthe connection rails 50 of the filtration sieve 50 are connected, arerespectively formed in the inner surface of the detergent receivingportion 40 at both sides of the outlet 41.

The above configuration causes the detergent to be filtered by thefiltration sieve 50 so as to prevent the detergent from flowing towardsthe outlet 41 when the powdered detergent is poured into the detergentreceiving portion 40. Further, the above configuration allows thedetergent dissolved in the washing water to pass through the filtrationsieve 50 and to be supplied to the tub 11 when the washing water issupplied to the drum washing machine, and causes granules of thedetergent, which are not dissolved in the washing water, to be filteredout by the filtration sieve 50. When foreign substances are filtered outby the filtration sieve 50 and the washing water does not smoothly passthrough the filtration sieve 50, the filtration sieve 50 is separatedfrom the detergent receiving portion 40, and is washed.

As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides adrum washing machine, in which a detergent receiving portion is formedintegrally with an inner transparent member of a door thereof, therebybeing easily produced and having low production costs.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a user opens the door andpours a detergent into the detergent receiving portion when thedetergent is supplied to the drum washing machine, the drum washingmachine allows the user to easily pour the detergent therein.

Since the detergent receiving portion is formed integrally with theinner transparent member of the door and the user can observe the supplystate of the detergent, the drum washing machine of the presentinvention supplies the user with visual satisfaction.

Since washing water and the detergent dissolved in the washing waterdrop from the detergent receiving portion of the door directly ontolaundry in a rotary drum, the drum washing machine of the presentinvention causes the washing water containing the detergent to rapidlysoak the laundry, thereby increasing washing effects.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

1. A drum washing machine comprising: a main body having an opening; adoor comprising a transparent member, to open and close the opening ofthe main body, said transparent member allowing a user to observe aninside of the main body; and a detergent receiving portion formed in thetransparent member to receive detergent therein.
 2. The drum washingmachine as set forth in claim 1, wherein the detergent receiving portionis formed integrally with the transparent member.
 3. The drum washingmachine as set forth in claim 1, further comprising: a tub installed inthe main body to contain washing water therein; a rotary drum installedin the tub to contain laundry therein; and a water supply device tosupply washing water to the detergent receiving portion, wherein thedetergent receiving portion comprises an outlet to guide the receivedwashing water to an inside of the rotary drum.
 4. The drum washingmachine as set forth in claim 3, wherein an upper surface of thedetergent receiving portion is opened.
 5. The drum washing machine asset forth in claim 3, further comprising a stream delay protrusion todelay a flow of the washing water to the outlet installed in thedetergent receiving portion.
 6. The drum washing machine as set forth inclaim 3, further comprising a filtration sieve installed at the outletof the detergent receiving portion.
 7. The drum washing machine as setforth in claim 6, wherein the filtration sieve is detachably installed.8. A drum washing machine comprising a detergent receiving portionformed in an inner surface of a door for opening and closing an openingof a main body.
 9. A drum washing machine comprising: a door to open andclose the drum washing machine, the door comprising: a transparentmember to allow a user to observe an inside of the drum washing machine;and a detergent receiving portion to receive detergent therein, andformed in the transparent member, thereby allowing the user to observe asupply of the detergent into the drum washing machine through thetransparent member.
 10. The drum washing machine of claim 9, furthercomprising a water supply device to directly supply washing water intothe detergent receiving portion, and wherein the detergent receivingportion comprises an outlet to guide the received washing water to aninside of the drum washing machine.
 11. The drum washing machine ofclaim 9, wherein the transparent member and the detergent receivingportion are integrally combined.
 12. The drum washing machine of claim9, wherein the transparent member is produced by injection-molding anacrylic resin.
 13. The drum washing machine of claim 10, furthercomprising a stream delay protrusion to delay a flow of the washingwater to the outlet installed in the detergent receiving portion. 14.The drum washing machine of claim 13, further comprising a filtrationsieve detachably installed at the outlet to filter the detergent in thedetergent receiving portion.